The Indy 500 is the pinnacle of motorsports. It’s a bucket list event for auto racing fans, and the biggest stage for Indy drivers. To many, this weekend’s race will be all about who finishes first and rehashing old memories. For Canadian driver Alex Tagliani, it will be about making first memories with the youngest member of Team Tagliani, his daughter Eva-Rose.
Just a year ago, Tagliani and his wife, Bronte, were sleep-deprived parents who departed for Indianapolis a month after their first daughter was born. Tagliani’s mother came up from Montreal to lend a hand, and Alex made the newest member of his family a public talking point at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway when he redesigned his helmet as a special tribute to Eva-Rose.
However, this year will be different, in part because of the historic nature of the event. Sunday marks the 100th running of what is to many the most famous race in the world. Tickets are already sold out, for the first time in more than 20 years. Tagliani isn’t surprised: “It’s tough to explain because you almost have to be there to see what the drivers, the mechanics, the sponsors, the fans are experiencing. There’s half a million people in a bowl. It’s electrifying the atmosphere. The intensity of the event gives you goose bumps.”
Another Canadian is in the spotlight this year as James Hinchcliffe’s comeback and pole win are snatching headlines. The last time Sam Schmidt—owner of Hinchcliffe’s team, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports—had an Indy 500 pole winner, it was Tagliani.
Tagliani has his sights set on a bigger prize this year. “There are three things you can win at Indy,” he explains. “You can win rookie of the year when you do it for the first time. You can have the pole and really enjoy the pole for one week because the race is one week later. Or win the race. For me, I was on pole during the 100-year celebration of the event in 2011—because the first race was in 1911—and I was rookie in 2009. So it would mean a lot to win.”
Despite his already-decorated career, the elusive Indy win still matters to Tagliani because of the degree of difficulty involved. “It’s recognized around the world as the hardest race to win,” he says. “In a normal race you have two pit stops, here you have eight to 10. Ten times more chances to make mistakes and have something happen. You do one strategy and you won’t know until the last 40 laps if you did the right one”.
Taking the checkered flag will be even more difficult because Tagliani won’t be starting at the front of the pack. On Sunday, his No. 35 A.J. Foyt Enterprises Honda slid sideways at the exit of Turn 4 and ran its nose into the attenuator at the end of the pit wall, spinning several times before coming to a stop.
Setbacks like that used to bother Tagliani, but Eva-Rose’s presence helps him stay positive while navigating his career. “When I was racing before I had her, sometimes the challenges, the tribulation, all of the effort, the sacrifice—sometimes it makes you grumpy and it can be unbearable. You can’t close your eyes and it’s hard to sleep. You almost feel like it’s the end of the world because you put so much into it,” he says. “I think what she brings is a different perspective. You don’t sweat the small stuff with a kid.”
Regardless of the outcome, Tagliani will get to look back at the historic race with big memories of his small child. “I’m really, really thankful that I have this career in racing, and now I’m going to have pictures and souvenirs of a 13-month-old baby living the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500,” he says. “She did her first little ride in a go-kart and she loved the wind in her face. I don’t know why but she’s attracted to wheels, whether it is wheels on a little car or wheels on a little tractor. When she saw the wheel of a race car she freaked out and wanted to touch them. All these things are super unique and we will be able to look back and say she was there with us during the 100.”
Of course, the ultimate memory would be 13-month-old Eva-Rose and 42-year-old Alex Tagliani both drinking milk in the winners circle of the 100th running of the Indy.